


Marduk

by ARollingStone, HarveyDangerfield



Series: Prime Directive [1]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Alien Planet, Blow Jobs, First Kiss, Grief/Mourning, Hand Jobs, Hostage Situations, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Internalized Homophobia, Lies, M/M, Prologue, Sexual Tension, Temporary Character Death, Unhappy Ending, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-12 01:50:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20163712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ARollingStone/pseuds/ARollingStone, https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarveyDangerfield/pseuds/HarveyDangerfield
Summary: While being held hostage by a godlike force of nature on an unfamiliar alien planet, Picard is forced to admit his feelings for Riker.It doesn't end well.





	Marduk

**Author's Note:**

> written with forceofwilll on tumblr
> 
> this piece is a prequel/prologue to our story The Prime Directive, about the crew winding up partaking in a mystery on the surface of a planet that Starfleet visited two decades ago. there's a really intense story line in that one, and it's being updated with new chapters regularly, so if you want to give it a read i would be so, so grateful. im very proud of it. 
> 
> this fic CAN be read as a standalone, but it has a sad ending. if you want to see picard and will get together, you'll have to follow Prime Directvie!

In retrospect, Picard should have known something would have happened on this unexplored, unnamed planet. It had been far too long since the Enterprise had been thrown into utter catastrophe, they were due for another harrowing event of apocalyptic proportion.  
  
The planet was one in a long list of unexplored and supposedly uninhabited Class M worlds that bore no lifesign readings from orbit, but whose surface remained untouched by human foot. It was typically the job of smaller exploration vessels to charter planets like these, but the Enterprise had no eminent missions or tasks to complete, and it happened to be "on the way." They might not have stopped at all, if not for the fact that Deanna reported sensing a presence from the planet, despite the computers verifying a lack of any organic lifesigns.  
  
In short order, Will, Data and Worf are gathered on the transporter pad and beamed down to the surface in search of anything bearing consciousness in the hopes of making contact. The planet's surface is covered in a thin, swirling lavender fog that blurs but doesn't completely obscure the natural landscape-- a lush, overgrown forest of rubbery, dark turquoise plant life, completely still and silent save for the rustle of wind. Not a chirping bug nor warbling animal can be heard anywhere around them.  
  
"The ship's computer was correct, sir," Data says, carefully inspecting the readouts as he scans around them. "There are no signs of intelligent life. There are not even insects on this planet. I am finding only the most basic forms of single-cell microorganisms, and a great deal of plantlife."  
  
"Yes, but Deanna sensed something greater than bacteria, Mr. Data." Commander Riker says, stepping to the front of the away team, to guide them on their hunt. Data continues to make readouts behind him, Worf seems uneasy like he's expecting some boogeyman to jump from the fog and attack them, and with the Enterprise's track record, that isn't exactly an unfounded fear.  
  
There are no structures to speak of. No buildings or huts, or any sign that anything sentient is at play on the planet's surface, but if Deanna had sensed something, there must be something. Her senses are rarely wrong, and when they are, it usually means that something wholly greater than even the three thousand-odd Starfleet officers aboard the Enterprise is influencing her.  
  
Nearly an hour into their trip, and they've still found nothing. Nothing but beautiful vistas, and the ever-present shimmery purple fog swirling around them, which has so far proven perfectly safe to breathe. With no sign of whatever triggered Deanna's mind into assurance that something existed here, they're just about ready to beam back up. But as Will reaches for his pin to activate his comm link to the bridge, some force grips his hand and stops it just short of making contact with the device.  
  
It doesn't hurt, but he feels pressure on every inch of his arm, like it's been encased in some kind of compression sleeve from elbow to fingertips, and it's rendered him completely unable to move his right arm. He can still move the rest of his body, it's simply his hand and forearm that has been trapped, suspended in midair with such force that he's sure if the ground suddenly crumbled from beneath his feet, he would remain dangling, pinned in midair.  
  
"Is something the matter, sir?" Data asks, turning to look at Will, whose expression has morphed into confusion.  
  
"Something's... got me by the arm." Will gruffs, and he brings his other up to try and do something about the pressure, but it's also soon trapped in whatever invisible force field is holding his arm at bay, effectively rendering him immobile.  
  
"Data, do you read any lifesigns?" Commander Riker asks, glancing at the android. He's keeping cool for now, because he has to. He's commanding the away team, it wouldn't do well to panic.  
  
Data quickly scans Will's arm, but shakes his head. "No, sir. Nothing at all. There are no signs that anything besides yourself is present."  
  
"I don't like this," Worf growls, his hand on his phaser already.  
  
"Perhaps you simply have a cramp, sir," Data offers unhelpfully. "Have you been staying hydrated?"  
  
Just then, Will is yanked up onto his toes by whatever has him by both arms, lifting him up and then a couple inches off the ground, dangling by the grip that something has on his forearms. Worf points his phaser wildly up at the empty sky with a shout of alarm.  
  
Will grits his teeth and jerks in the hold of whatever's got him. He feels quite literally like a bug being suspended by its wing, by whatever great force is holding him. He struggles, but all of his jerking only seems to make whatever has a hold of him angry because it yanks him up higher, until his feet are a distance off the ground.  
  
All at once and from everywhere, vibrating in the shimmering mist that covers them from every angle, a voice booms,  
  
"**WHO. ARE. YOU.**"  
  
"I'm Commander William T. Riker with the USS Enterprise!" Will shouts, not so much trying to match volume, but whatever's got him maybe be anywhere so he makes himself heard. "My crew and I are here investigating your planet! We mean you no harm!"  
  
A pause, and then Will is slowly lowered down and placed delicately on his feet in the sand, the grip on his arms released a moment later. Worf's phaser, however, is crushed to the size of a pingpong ball in his hand in an instant, and he drops it with a grunt of alarm.  
  
"Intriguing," Data murmurs, looking down at his readouts again. "Sir, I am still receiving no positive life signs whatsoever. But clearly something is communicating with us."  
  
Again, the very mist around them vibrates with the voice, thundering and androgynous, neither male nor female. It isn't particularly deep, just very, very loud as it speaks, "**WHAT ARE YOU INVESTIGATING?**"  
  
"This planet showed no lifesigns, but our counselor picked up something on the planet's surface. We were here to chart out the planet for Starfleet, but we weren't sure if there were any inhabitants." Will's gaze falls from the sky, to Worf. "Our guesses may have been wrong."  
  
"**YOUR GUESSES WERE WRONG,**" the voice replies.  
  
"If I may theorize, sir?" Data speaks up, and Will nods. "I believe it may be the mist itself that carries this consciousness. It is comprised of simple gasses, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, but there is one gaseous compound I cannot identify. It may be this compound that affords it consciousness and manipulation of its environment. And anything within it."  
  
"And we've been breathing it this whole time," Worf growls.  
  
"Speculation," Data nods to the klingon. "However, if my postulation is correct... the entire planet is covered in this same mist, sir. We may be more than a little outmatched if it chooses to turn to violence."  
  
Will's gaze lingers on Data, then Worf for a moment, before he turns back to--well, nothingness. Not knowing where to point his gaze, he just settles for straight forward and calls, "Now that you know us, who are you?"  
  
Silence falls for a moment, and when the voice replies, it's a bit quieter than before. It is no less everywhere as it was a moment ago, but it doesn't seem as angry or affronted anymore. "**I DO NOT KNOW. I HAVE NO NAME.**" following a short pause it then says, "**GIVE ME ONE.**"  
  
"How about, Marduk?" Will answers after a brief pause.  
  
"Marduk," Data repeats, his eyes scanning rapidly. "The name of an ancient Babylonian God, of Mesopotamian myth. The leader of the Babylonian Pantheon, liberator of the Jewish people, a god of magic, vegetation, and judgement. A fitting name choice, sir."  
  
After another short pause, the voice replies, "**I AM MARDUK. THIS IS MY HOME. YOU ARE TRESPASSING.**"  
  
"Very well, Marduk," Will addresses the voice. "If you will allow us safe transport back to our ship, we can be on our way and leave your planet without more intrusion."  
  
There is another short pause, before the voice speaks up again, sounding almost distraught this time. "**WAIT. I HAVE CHANGED MY MIND. I HAVE NEVER HAD VISITORS BEFORE. I WAS HASTY. PLEASE STAY.**"  
  
Worf sneers, but Will can't help but smile at the slight desperation in the voice. Data uncaps a vaccum vial and allows the mist to seep into it, before capping it once more and pocketing the sample. "Permission to beam back aboard my ship, Marduk," he addresses the mist. "I would like to do some research on your composition, and see if we have any records of anything resembling your kind."  
  
Marduk is silent for a while, contemplating this, before it replies, "**YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO GO. COME BACK AND TELL ME IF YOU FIND OUT... WHAT I AM.THE OTHERS, PLEASE STAY. WILLIAM T RIKER, AND THE UGLY ONE.**"  
  
Data is beamed up after a brief hailing, to the sound of Will snickering under his breath. "Worf! I am Worf," the klingon corrects angrily, swinging a hand through the fog to try and clear it from his face. "Commander, I do not think this is a good idea! We don't know anything about this lifeform, or what it wants with us. It nearly ripped your arms off a moment ago, we cannot simply stay here and subject ourselves to its whims!"  
  
"Is that all, Lieutenant?" Will asks, raising his chin at Worf, standing straight backed. "Marduk has been kind enough to invite us to... understand their ways. Our mission, need I remind you, is to seek out new life. This falls within the parameters of that goal."  
  
Worf curls his lip at Will, but nods, "Yes Commander."  
  
"Very good." Will replies, then turns again to address the mist. "Marduk? What can we do for you?"  
  
"**I AM LONELY,**" Marduk replies. "**PLAY WITH ME.**"  
  
"We are adult men. We do not _play_\--" Worf growls.  
  
"**PLAY,**" Marduk demands, and a moment later Worf is thrown off his feet, launched through the air by at least six feet, and then swatted back down to the earth, where he rolls across the grass with a groan of pain, curling up on his side.  
  
Will immediately regrets not listening to the Klingon. "Now hold on a minute, Marduk. We can't play like that you could kill him!"  
  
The mist doesn't impede him from rushing to Worf's side and dropping to his knees, helping the injured klingon roll onto his hands and knees. It remains silent as Worf staggers to his feet, gripping his side, while Will helps him hobble over to a mossy spot to sit down and put his back to a rock.  
  
"My ribs," Worf grunts, breathing hard, still holding his side.  
  
Marduk finally speaks up. "**YOU ARE FRAGILE. I DID NOT KNOW. I AM SORRY.**"  
  
"Marduk, Worf is injured. We need to beam him back aboard our ship, so he can receive medical attention," Will says, he's speaking almost as though he is addressing a child, now. "I promise that I'll stay down on the planet with you, but you have to let him return, so that his injuries don't get worse."  
  
"**NO!**" Marduk replies, and the very ground underneath them rumbles. "**NO ONE ELSE LEAVES ME! DO NOT LEAVE!**"  
  
Worf looks between Will and the formless mist, bearing his teeth through the pain. "Then let me call the doctor!" he shouts. "She'll come down here and you'll have another person to play with."  
  
Silence for a few moments as they wait to see if they'll be allowed. It'll mean bringing another person down into this mist, but hopefully they'll be able to reason with Marduk eventually. Data might find some useful information with the science team, or worst comes to worse, find some way to disable the mist so they can leave.  
  
"**DO IT,**" Marduk finally replies.  
  
Worf hails the ship, and his communicator chips. "Worf? This is O'Brien."  
  
"_Doctor_ O'Brien," Worf says, choosing his words very carefully. "I need you to _beam_. I am injured and we have a hostile force who is allowing the _doctor_ to _beam_."  
  
After a short silence, O'Brien seems to pick up on what the Klingon is putting down. "Ohhh, I see. Beaming in just a moment, sir. _Doctor_ O'Brien out."  
  
The commlink drops, and a moment later, both Worf and Will start to glitter with white energy. Marduk screams and the whole planet rumbles, and before the two of them can be picked up totally by the transporter room, the connection is cut off. O'Brien's voice comes crackling through Worf's comm again, broken up by whatever interference broke their connection to the transporter room.  
  
"O'Brien, sir! Something's-- it's interferin' with-- can't make contact-- I'll keep--"  
  
Worf's communicator is crushed just like his phaser and ripped off his shirt, as both he and Will are yanked back up into the air by their arms, dangling and held like dolls by the furious, swirling mist. Worf yowls in pain as his dangling body puts undue pressure on his ribs, and he kicks fruitlessly at the fog.  
  
"**LIARS! LIARS! LIARS!**" Marduk wails.  
  
"MARDUK!" Will shouts. "PLEASE! Worf's scared! He didn't mean to-!" Will calls out, he feels like his arms are going to tear away from his body, and leave him limbless on the planet. They've dealt with beings like this before, creatures who view humanoids as their playthings, but how do you fight an enemy you can't even see?  
  
"I'm not scared!" Worf grunts, apparently taking offense to that, as well.  
  
"**STILL LIES!**" Marduk yells, and throws Worf again, into a boulder, where he bounces off the surface and rolls to the ground, and lies still. "**WORF IS FULL OF NOTHING BUT LIES!**"  
  
"Marduk--Marduk!" Will shouts. "I have more friends for you to play with. The doctor, the real doctor, Beverly Crusher, and my friend, Deanna Troi. They'd both be very willing to play with you, if you'll let them beam down and see to Worf's injuries."  
  
"**YOU WILL LIE TOO!**" Marduk shouts, and the ground trembles again.  
  
"I'm not lying, Marduk! Worf needs help, and my friend Deanna would be very interested to get to know you!" Will grunts, his arms growing tired now from holding him aloft, his body feels so heavy. "Please, Marduk. You're hurting us."  
  
Silence for a moment, and then Will is once more slowly lowered to his feet. "**I DO NOT WANT TO HURT,**" Marduk says. "**PLEASE DO NOT LIE TO ME AGAIN. I WANT TO MEET DEANNA TROI AND BEVERLY CRUSHER.**"  
  
A moment later, Will's comm crackles back to life on his chest, mid-transmission.  
  
"--hearing us? Damn you, Riker, come in." It's Picard's voice, and he sounds furious.  
  
"I'm here, sir!" Will calls out, his voice cracking. He straightens his uniform and speaks over the comm. "I need Dr. Crusher, and Counselor Troi to beam down to our location--we found life, sir. Worf is injured, and I think my arms might have popped out of socket."  
  
He hears a nearly inaudible sigh of relief from the Captain. "Understood. Will we be able to maintain communica--" and just like that, the comm goes dead again.  
  
"**YOU ARE HONEST,**" Marduk says. "**I WILL LET THEM COME.**"  
  
It takes a minute or so for the transporter chief to find the hole that Marduk provides, where the mist spreads far enough for two people to beam down into, and in a shimmer of white light, Deanna and Beverly appear. In an instant, the fog closes back in around them, sealing them onto the planet's surface as well.  
  
Beverly immediately rushes to Worf's side with her kit in hand, scanning him to check his vitals, while Deanna runs to Will, grabbing him gently by the forearms. "Are you badly hurt?" she asks softly, but before he can answer, the mist around them vibrates once more.  
  
"**WHICH IS DEANNA TROI AND WHICH IS BEVERLY CRUSHER?**" Marduk demands, and Deanna immediately starts to look around, trying to find the source of the voice.  
  
"I'm Beverly Crusher." The doctor replies, turning Worf over onto his back so she can better asses his damage. "And the brunette over there is Deanna."  
  
Will looks down at the betazoid with a soft gaze and smiles, "I'm alright, Deanna."  
  
Deanna looks up at the sky, evidently piecing together that what she's sensing is coming from the mist itself. "It's... everywhere, Will," she murmurs. "I've never felt something so... so massive before. It's the air, the sky. The atmosphere. The entire planet is one self-aware organism. And it's... so lonely. Oh, Will, it's so _lonely_."  
  
A moment later, Marduk announces, "**I LIKE DEANNA TROI.**"  
  
Will's smille grows more sentimental. He squeezes her shoulder, "I know, Deanna. Marduk wants us to stay and... play with it, but its way of playing hurt Worf. Can you explain to it that we need to get back to the ship?"  
  
"I can try," Deanna says, and turns away from him to address the mist directly. "Marduk, may we talk?"  
  
As the sound of the mist's booming voice centers on Deanna, that fades into the background as Will runs over to Beverly's side, kneeling with her. "Worf will be okay," she explains before Will even has to ask. "Or he _would_. Many of his ribs have been shattered, but if I could get him to sickbay, I could heal him without an issue. From here there's little I can do, at any moment one of them could pierce his lungs and he could drown in his own blood. Not to be melodramatic but the situation is quite dire."  
  
"I was afraid of that." Will admits grimly, he looks Worf over before throwing a glance over his shoulder at Deanna, looking up at the sky with a placid smile on her face as she addresses the rumbling Marduk. "It all happened so fast. We're like dolls to it. It just threw Worf in the air, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. And he tried to warn me." Will breathes out a sigh. "I should have listened to him."  
  
"I'm sure he'll love to give you all the I Told You So's in the world, once we all get back to the ship," Beverly murmurs.  
  
"**NO!**" Marduk suddenly howls, and Beverly is swatted like a fly, thrown back from Worf and onto her back a few feet away. Her eyes bulge and she wheezes out, and though there is nothing but the mist touching her, Will watches as her chest and stomach are compressed down, the air being crushed out of her. "**NO NO NO NO NO! LIARS! ALL LIARS! YOU WANT TO LEAVE! YOU ALL WANT TO LEAVE ME!**"  
  
"Beverly--" Deanna tries to run to the other woman, but she's hoisted up into the air by one arm, tugged up and off the ground by several feet. She yelps, her entire weight dangling off of one shoulder, which she grips with her opposite hand to try and alleviate the pressure. "Marduk! I said we _would_ stay if we--"  
  
"**BEVERLY CRUSHER SAID YOU WILL ALL GO BACK TO THE SHIP! YOU CANNOT LEAVE! THEY CANNOT HAVE YOU!**"  
  
"Marduk, put her down!" Will thunders, and he rushes under Deanna to try to catch her fall. "You can't keep hurting us! Stop it this instant!"  
  
"**I DO NOT WANT TO HURT,**" Marduk says, and lowers Deanna down into Will's arms, who curls up against him, shivering. A moment later, Beverly gasps in a breath and rolls over, choking and coughing for air as she, too is released. "**BUT HURTING YOU IS THE ONLY THING THAT MAKES YOU STOP. IT MAKES YOU STAY. WHY DO YOU WANT TO LEAVE ME?**"  
  
Will holds Deanna in his arms, and addresses the great cloud, "It isn't that we want to leave you, but there are things that beings like us require to survive, things you cannot provide. Worf is injured, he may die if he doesn't go back to the ship and get medical treatment. Do you understand what dying is, Marduk?"  
  
A pause. Then, "**NO. EXPLAIN DYING.**"  
  
"Dying is when people like us, people like Worf and Beverly and Will and myself, we stop being able to move. Or talk, or think, or breathe. Or play. Forever," Deanna explains from Will's arms.  
  
Marduk is silent for a long time. Then it asks, the softest its voice has ever been, "**DID I MAKE WORF... DYING?**"  
  
"Yes," Will says simply. "Yes, Worf is dying. But if you let him go back up to the ship, Beverly could make him well again. Deanna and I, we could stay here with you, but Worf and Beverly need to return to our ship, so that Worf doesn't die."  
  
Marduk is silent for nearly half a minute as it contemplates everything it's learned in the past few minutes. "**I THINK**\--" it starts, but it falls silent when Will's comm once more crackles to life, with Geordi's voice.  
  
"--think we've got it. Commander, come in, are you reading me? I think we managed to patch through the interference!"  
  
"**WHO IS THAT?**" demands Marduk.  
  
"That's Geordi LaForge, our chief Engineer," Will replies. "Geordi, this is Commander RIker--I can hear you, but now may not be the best time. I'll let you know when and if we can beam Worf and Doctor Crusher back onto the Enterprise. We have a very delicate situation down here."  
  
"Number One, I need all of you back on the Enterprise," Picard says, his voice coming through just a moment later, from beside Geordi. "Data has determined that extended inhalation of the mist you're all _marinating_ in could prove to be life-threatening."  
  
"**WHO IS _THAT?_**_"_ Marduk repeats its question.  
  
"That is Captain Jean-Luc Picard--he is a friend." Will reassures the alien lifeform. "Captain, I don't know if I can get us back safely."  
  
"**I WANT TO MEET THEM,**" Marduk says. "**PLEASE. LET ME MEET THEM.**"  
  
Picard ignores Marduk completely. "How great is the danger, Number One? How is Lieutenant Worf?"  
  
"Stable, for now," Beverly answers, coming closer in order to be heard by Will's comm. "But that could change at any moment. If he moves wrong, he could die."  
  
"**DO NOT IGNORE ME!**" Marduk roars, the planet shaking under them. "**I WANT TO MEET GEORDI LAFORGE AND CAPTAIN JEAN-LUC PICARD!**"  
  
"It's hurting," Deanna says, finally shifting to indicate for Will to put her down, feeling her strength return. "I can feel it, it's becoming... obsessed with the idea that we're all liars. It feels betrayed, desperate. I think if we all just stop fighting it for a little while and give it what it wants, it will calm down and we can reason with it. I don't sense any _malice_, just fear. Terrible, consuming fear."  
  
"Give us just a moment, Marduk. We have to coordinate with the rest of our friends. We're not ignoring you, but we do need a moment." Will says, ever patient. He speaks then, directly into his comm. "Captain, did you hear what Deanna said? We're dealing with a possibly planet-wide organism...we have to comply if we want to get out of this unscathed."  
  
"Planet-wide?" Picard replies in a murmur, and then mutters something under his breath in french. "What does it want, Counselor?"  
  
"It wants... to not be alone," Deanna answers.  
  
"That's easy for _it_ to say," Picard replies.  
  
"Imagine if you grew up from birth in a room, all by yourself, Captain," Deanna says. "Imagine for years and years, you were alone. You grew up alone, and you lived alone. You were alone for so long that you didn't even think other people existed, because you had no frame of reference to understand that anyone else existed in the entire universe. It didn't even occur to you to consider the possibility that others existed. And then imagine that all of a sudden, people come into your room, for the first time in your entire life, since you've been self-aware. You would not want them to leave, either."  
  
Picard sighs. "I understand. Perhaps we can strike a deal. Mr. LaForge, with me. To transporter room three."  
  
"Captain Picard is on his way," Will says, addressing Marduk. "You will be able to meet more of our," he looks down at Deanna, "friends...very soon."  
  
"**GOOD.**" Marduk falls silent. Another gap in the mist is provided, and as they wait for Picard and Geordi to beam down, from behind them, they hear Worf grunt.  
  
"Oh-- stop moving," Beverly is at his side in an instant as he tries to sit up, but when she realizes she can't make him stop, she instead supports him as he sits up and rests his back against the rock behind him.  
  
"I think this is all going very well so far," he grunts humorlessly. When the shimmer of light from the transporter appears, his eyes widen, and he tries to jerk up to a stand. "You're beaming MORE down?!"  
  
"Mr. Worf," Will says, turning to him. "I think it'd be best if you just tried to get some rest. Captain."  
  
He nods to Picard as he materializes next to him, along with their chief engineer, who Will knows is immediately scanning the area with his optics. "Marduk! This is Captain Picard, and Geordi LaForge."  
  
"**HELLO GEORDI LAFORGE. HELLO CAPTAIN JEAN-LUC PICARD**," Marduk thunders.  
  
The fog closes back in around them, and Picard observes the scene with a hard edge to his eyes, scowling through the air. "This mist is toxic to humanoids, with prolonged exposure, Marduk," he explains evenly. "If we stay here for more than 24 hours, we will suffocate and there is nothing in your power you could do to stop it."  
  
Just like that, a perfect dome of clean, breathable air appears around them, expanding out from the center until it's just big enough to contain all of them. Picard looks very annoyed.  
  
"**NOW YOU CAN STAY,**" Marduk says.  
  
"Got you there, captain," Geordi chuckles.  
  
"There are other things we need to survive." Will continues to explain. "Water, food, sleep. You can't contain us here forever, but if there's something you need from us, we might be inclined to help you."  
  
"**I NEED YOU TO STAY,**" Marduk says, starting to sound like it's begging.  
  
"We _can't_ stay, don't you understand?" Picard says, already growing tired, his voice raising slightly. "Even if you keep us here until we die, and we _will_ die, of starvation or dehydration, exposure to the elements or exhaustion or any number of other ways you are powerless to prevent, you will be alone again. But if you let us go, let us return to our ship, we can look into introducing a different kind of life here, something that can coexist with you. Something that can live here permanently, so you will never be alone again."  
  
Marduk is quiet for some time as it considers this. "**WILLIAM T RIKER. IS THIS TRUE? CAN THIS BE DONE?**"  
  
"Yes, it's true," Will confirms. "If you let us go back to our ship, we can hail a science vessel, and get in touch with Starfleet. They would be very interested to hear of your existence, and would likely send more people, like us, to come here and befriend you--people who could stay and live here, work with you."  
  
"**I WANT _YOU_, WILLIAM T RIKER. YOU MUST STAY. PROMISE ME THAT YOU WILL STAY**," Marduk says.  
  
Before Will can respond, Picard says, "Commander Riker will return. I am his Captain, and I have the authority to send and assign him wherever I choose. After we leave, I will see to it personally that he is reassigned to the science vessel that will return to live with you. He will stay here for the rest of his natural life, with you. But as our race demands, I must first put through the transfer paperwork through command, otherwise they will never let him stay with them aboard that vessel."  
  
"Captain..." Deanna whispers, looking uneasy, not because she fears losing Will, but because she can tell that Picard is lying. She gives Will a harrowing look.  
  
"**IS THIS TRUE, WILLIAM T RIKER? IF I LET YOU GO, YOU WILL COME BACK TO ME?**" Marduk pleads.  
  
"No, Marduk. We can't afford to lie to it, sir," Will says, turning to look at Picard. "That's how Worf got into the position he's in-- it's in our best interest to be truthful with it."  
  
"**WILLIAM T RIKER IS THE ONLY ONE WHO DOES NOT LIE!**" Marduk roars, the ground shaking violently under their feet as the mist come crashing back in around them, squeezing in around them furiously. "**LIE, LIE, ALL OF YOU LIE!**"  
  
"LaForge--" Picard looking over to the engineer, who makes a mad grab for his phaser and holds it out in front of him.  
  
And then all at once, every single one of them is frozen in place. The mist locks them into their current positions from every angle, effectively freezing them solid. Then gently, each one of them is lifted, turned and moved, including Worf who is handled with the most care of all, until they're all situated in a circle facing one another, in the same positions they stood before-- save Worf, who is given the dignity of putting his feet under him. Geordi's arm is still outstretched, with the phaser held helplessly in Marduk's grip.  
  
"**WHAT IS THIS? DO NOT LIE! NO MORE LYING!**" it demands.  
  
Picard gives an angry sigh, feeling powerless. "Before we beamed down, I ordered Lieutenant LaForge to configure a new setting on the phaser, one that would ignite the gasses in your body and burn them away in a great enough radius that the transporter room would be able to lock onto us and beam us back aboard the Enterprise." Geordi's phaser is crushed instantly in his hand, and it falls from his grip into the grass. The effortless way it crushes the metal reminds them of how easily the firm but gentle hold Marduk has on their bodies could turn deadly in an instant.  
  
"**WHY DO YOU LIE TO MARDUK?**" the mist demands.  
  
"Because we are frightened!" Picard raises his voice to match the shouting fog. "And when we are frightened, we will do anything in our power to survive, including lie."  
  
"**WILLIAM T RIKER DOES NOT LIE. IS HE NOT AFRAID?**" Marduk asks.  
  
"I'm not frightened of you." Will says, he doesn't struggle against the hold that the creature has on him, he keeps his voice even and calm. "I understand that you're lonely--is there something we can do now that would satisfy you, before we return to our ship, and contact others who would come and visit you?"  
  
"**I WANT TO HEAR YOU TELL THE TRUTH. ALL OF YOU.**" Marduk commands.  
  
"I just did," Picard argues.  
  
"**NOT GOOD ENOUGH!**" Marduk shakes the ground. "**TELL ME TRUTHS YOU HAVE NEVER TOLD! PROVE TO ME YOU ARE A TRUSTWORTHY SPECIES!**"  
  
"It wants us to share our deep, dark secrets," Deanna translates as best she can, trembling in Marduk's hold. "Only then will it be satisfied."  
  
"**STARTING WITH YOU,**" Marduk says, moving Worf forward, into the center of the circle. "**TELL ME A TRUTH YOU HIDE. TELL ME YOUR SECRET. PROVE TO ME YOU ARE WORTH LISTENING TO.**"  
  
"I have no dark secrets," Worf growls.  
  
"**LIAR!**" Marduk roars, and in a flash of purple light, Worf is vaporized in an instant. Deanna _wails_.  
  
Will grunts as he struggles against the invisible bonds holding him, he wants desperately to move to comfort Deanna, but he cannot. The creature's power restrains him. "We have to be honest." he groans, his hands straining, arms shifting, but he cannot budge. "We _have_ to."  
  
Beverly is moved forward next. She's breathing a bit harder, her eyes darting around the circle, the only thing she's able to move. "**SPEAK YOUR HIDDEN TRUTH!**" Marduk demands.  
  
Beverly swallows hard as she tries to frantically think of something that Marduk would consider deep and dark enough for her to admit. So far she can't tell if the being can innately sense when they're lying, or if it only picks up on lies that are admitted, or cross references information and finds contradictions. But considering everything she's seen and heard, she's hoping to god it's the latter, because the deep dark truth about her is that none of her truths are particularly deep _or_ dark. So she speaks the worst half-truth she can think of, in the blind, desperate hope that Marduk won't be able to tell the difference, and will consider her truth to be dramatic enough to let her live.  
  
"I blame Captain Picard for the death of my husband to this day," she says, unable to look Picard in the eye as she says it.  
  
Marduk is quiet for a moment, and then growls, "**YOU'RE LYING.**"  
  
Beverly's eyes widen and she cries, "No-- wait!" but in an instant, she's vaporized like Worf, and Picard feels his whole body go tense as Deanna goes completely limp with a weak sob.  
  
Geordi is pushed forward, panting harshly with fear. He doesn't have much time to think, panic gripping him, so he blurts, "One time Commander Riker was given the power to grant me real, human eyes-- and I told him I didn't want them! But I _did_, I just didn't want _him_ to give them to me because I didn't like the idea of him having that kind of power, so I made him turn my eyes back to normal and I've regretted it ever since!"  
  
"**YOU HAVE DARKER SECRETS THAN THAT. EVEN WITH YOUR LIFE ON THE LINE YOU CONTINUE TO HIDE!**" Marduk bellows, and Geordi disappears in that same cloud of purple, vaporized atoms.  
  
"Stop this! Stop it!" Deanna sobs, closing her eyes tightly, unable to hang her head.  
  
Will closes his eyes too, and takes a deep breath. He tries to center himself, but all he can think about now is that his friends are gone, vaporized as if their lives never meant anything, in the little circle they've formed, it's as though they never even existed. He can hear Deanna sobbing, and when he looks up, and across at Picard, the captain's expression is unreadable, his jaw clenched so tightly that there is a line from cheek to chin where his muscles are taut.  
  
"We _have_ to tell it the truth!" Will shouts. "It's the only way we get out of this alive!"  
  
"It doesn't just want the truth, it wants us to _eviscerate_ ourselves before it!" Picard says angrily. "Nothing but our innermost horrors will satisfy it."  
  
Deanna is moved forward next, and she keeps her eyes closed, shaking in Marduk's grip. "No, no," she whispers.  
  
"**TELL ME YOUR TRUTH!**" Marduk demands.  
  
"I won't-- I won't play this game with you, I won't do it!" Deanna says. "You are hurting and you are afraid, but this is not the way you will feel better, Marduk! This will only hurt you more, once we are all gone you will be alone again, left to wonder--"  
  
"**YOU REFUSE?**" Marduk interrupts.  
  
"Yes," Deanna says, her breath shaking. "I refuse. I'm so sorry, Will, I--" She's cut off when in an instant, she too is vaporized.  
  
Will shouts her name, it's torn harsh from his throat and he cannot stop the tears that prickle in his eyes. Deanna, his Imzadi, instantly gone in the blink of an eye. His jaw trembles and he closes his eyes to try to calm the torrent of anger and despair flooding him from seemingly all sides.  
  
"Captain, we have to comply..." Will says, he sounds tired, downtrodden to his very last. "We can't die for the sake of a few secrets. You _know_ that, you have to know that."  
  
"We do not negotiate, Commander. You know this," Picard says, but even he has the smallest tremor in his voice.  
  
"Please, captain--Jean-Luc..." Will's voice trails off, and he holds Picard's gaze, he takes a breath and admits, "We can't lose you, too."  
  
Picard holds Will's eyes in return until he feels himself, too, be pushed forward. He sets his jaw, and seriously considers refusing, but faced with Will looking at him pleadingly, broken, he finds it very difficult to go peacefully into that dark night.  
  
"**SPEAK YOUR**\--"  
  
"Yes! I get the picture," Picard interrupts angrily. "You have this notion in your mind that we are all liars, deceivers, and perhaps some part of that is true. Perhaps to lie is human, and it is something you will never understand, but it is something you will never be able to cure us of either, no matter how many of our friends you kill in front of us! But if you will only be satisfied by the darkest, most private parts of our souls laid bare..."  
  
He sighs, and feels his guts twist in his stomach. He knows what his darkest secret is, and from what he's seen here, if he attempts to say anything else, Marduk will be able to tell, and will kill him without giving him a second chance. He only has one attempt at this, if he wants to survive. And he wants to survive, if only for the pleasure of condemning this planet after the fact.  
  
"Ever since I was a young boy I have hidden one fact about myself," he says, casting his eyes away from Will. "A product of my conservative raising. It is the only thing I have never once told anyone out loud, the only words I have refused to utter out loud to anyone living, no matter how much I trusted them," Picard feels his entire body draining of energy as he attempts to gather the nerve to say something he's never even uttered out loud to himself. "I am gay. Are you satisfied now?"  
  
Marduk is silent for a while. "**WHAT IS GAY?**" it finally asks, and Picard gives a growl of frustration.  
  
"It means I like men. I have always preferred men since I was a child, and I always will, and no matter how many times I try to force myself to love a woman in order to please the rigid, hopeless guidelines put forth by my family, I always, invariably find myself drawn back to men like William T Riker. Now-- are you _satisfied?"_  
  
Marduk is silent again, as it contemplates what it has seen and heard. A moment later, the very mist around them seems to sigh with a horrible, aching longing. "**NO**," it admits, and then Picard is vaporized, and its grip on Will is dropped, allowing him to fall to his knees.  
  
Will crouches down and lays his fists to the earth. Now that the last of his closest friends are gone, vaporized into thin air, he doesn't hold back. He cries, loud and wailing, the sound tearing from his throat. All the fight is gone from him--there is nothing he can do to fight against this creature. It can string him up to its whims in a moment's notice, end his life in a blink of an eye.  
  
The commander looks skyward, toward the heavens where he knows the Enterprise is still there and he shouts, "Just do it already! Kill me like the others! Rip me limb from limb if you want! I'm done, Marduk! I'm done..."  
  
"**I MADE HIM TELL ME THE TRUTH,**" Marduk says as it watches Riker fall apart. "**BUT IT DID NOT SATISFY ME. WHY?**"  
  
"I don't know," Will mutters, running his fingers through his hair, mussing it up. All he can think about is what Picard had said before dying-- men like _him_. He must have said that with intention, knowing that they'd never see each other again.  
  
"**I AM SORRY I HURT YOU,**" Marduk says, the mist enveloping Will tighter again. He feels the pressure increase around him, and as he thinks he can't hope to take another breath, he sees a puff of those bright purple particles and knows that he too is in the process of being vaporized--  
  
Until the view of the Enterprise's bridge comes into focus. Geordi is at his post with Picard barking orders at him, Deanna sitting in her seat with her face in her hands, and Beverly loading Worf onto a stretcher with the help of another crewman.  
  
"I want all hands on deck to get him back, do you hear me?" Picard bellows, his back to Will, all other sets of eyes focused directly on the commander behind him. "Mr. LaForge!"  
  
"Captain," Geordi says, and points behind him.  
  
Picard whirls to see what he's pointing at and freezes on the spot when he sees Will standing in a daze in the center of the bridge, the particles still dissipating into nothingness around him. Picard's jaw flexes as he chews his teeth, and then he simply tugs the bottom of his uniform shirt back down to straighten it.  
  
"Welcome back aboard, Commander," he says stiffly, his eyes bright and approaching wild, as Deanna launches up out of her seat to rush to him for an embrace, followed shortly after by Geordi, while Beverly quickly escorts Worf's stretcher to the turbolift.  
  
"I want everyone to make a stop by sickbay within the next 24 hours! _Especially_ you, Riker!" she shouts through the doors as they close, as Deanna hits Will full force in the chest, and Geordi's hand comes down on his shoulder.  
  
Will looks lost. He's no telepath, even if Deanna had taught him how to read her thoughts, and to project his own into her mind, he cannot sense the emotions of others. Still, there's a lingering feeling of absolute, dreadful loneliness that won't leave him. It creeps up the back of his neck, cold as the kiss of the grave, but the warmth begins to flood back into him when he realizes where he is, and what's happening.  
  
He wraps an arm around Deanna and holds his dear friend close, which is followed up by a pat on Geordi's back, a slow smile tugging at his lips. His gaze falters over Picard, a silent question being asked, before he turns them to Deanna and rumbles, "I thought it had killed all of you."  
  
"We thought that too, until we arrived here one by one. What'd you tell it to get it to let you go?" Geordi asks.  
  
"It asked me--" Will swallows the lump in his throat. "It asked me why it didn't feel better...after demanding the truth from all of you, and I told it I didn't know," his breath is shaky, then.  
  
"I suppose that is the truth it longed for," Picard says, sitting back down in his seat. "Report to sickbay, all three of you. You are all relieved of duty for the remainder of the evening. Mr. Data, hail Starfleet with a full report of what transpired on this planet, with full quarantine protocols until further notice. Mr. Crusher," he rubs his hand over his face. "Get us the hell out of here."  
  
Will goes with Geordi and Deanna to sick bay, where, after some testing, they are determined to be in perfect health apart from some mild inflammation in their lungs, which Dr. Crusher prescribes a treatment for, and sends them on their way. That night, Will has dinner in Ten Forward, but he has a hard time focusing on his food, or the atmosphere, because he can't stop thinking about what Picard had said.  
  
After some deliberation between his logical mind, and his emotions, Will heads back to his quarters and changes into something more comfortable, before making a decision to head to the captain's own quarters, to at least _talk_ about what had been said.  
  
He stands outside as the bell chimes, and hears Picard's telltale "Come!" before stepping through the now-open doors. Picard is sitting in his chair, reading one of his many books when he looks up at Will. He sighs as soon as he sees Will, and closes his book. "I was wondering when you would show," he mutters, dropping his book on the surface of his desk. He stands up from his seat and steps up to the window, clasping his hands behind his back, turning himself away from Will. "Come on, then. Out with it. You would like a transfer, or for me to disavow that I ever said a thing. Let's get this handled."  
  
Will swallows and closes the distance between them, standing close to Picard without taking up his space. "No. I just want to talk about it..."  
  
Picard sighs again. "What is there to talk about? You are the only person in the universe who has heard my secret in no uncertain terms. And it will stay that way, do I make myself clear, Number One?"  
  
"Yes, of course sir," Will replies, he tries to make his voice soft, but there's still a bit of roughness around the edges. "Sir... how long?"  
  
"Since I was a boy, you heard what I told Marduk," Picard says, his tone clipped and his gaze unwavering from the window.  
  
"Not that part. The part about- about me, sir," Will asks. "How long have you had feelings for me?"  
  
"Feelings?" Picard says as he steps away from the window, sitting down on the couch and finally looking up at Will with a cold expression. "I said I found you _attractive_. I did not say that I had feelings for you."  
  
"I see," His first officer sounds as though he's been kicked in the chest.  
  
Picard sighs when he sees Will transform before his very eyes into a wounded animal. "I am not the sort of man you would want to be involved with, in any case, if I even allowed myself to be _involved_ in that way with men. As a lover I can be headstrong, foolish, jealous and selfish. You are better off with Counselor Troi."  
  
"I've had feelings-- for you." Will says and he looks down at his feet, away from Picard, but he smiles. "When I first came to my post from Farpoint Station, it was a dream to be serving with Jean-Luc Picard...and when I saw the way you looked at me, it felt right. But I never said anything, because you're a man of integrity, and purpose, and by my own admission I can be...emotional. Reckless, sometimes."  
  
"What are you hoping to accomplish by telling me this?" Picard asks, restlessly standing back up from the couch and stepping up into Will's space, squaring his shoulders into that intimidating posture he carries when he's trying to frighten someone into backing down. "Are you hoping to jog some kind of emotional response in me? It won't work. You are a fine man, and a dear friend, but apart from being hopelessly attractive, you aren't my type. Besides, your recklessness in matters of love doesn't come close to comparing to how demanding I can be."  
  
He doesn't mean to glance at Will's lips, but it happens anyway. His eyes have that same wild, desperate look they did in the moments he looked at Will on the bridge earlier in the evening, when he realized for the millionth time that he wasn't going to have to bury William T. Riker.  
  
Jaw flexing, he says, "You couldn't _hope_ to keep up with me."  
  
"With all due respect Sir, that's up to me to decide," Will says, tilting his head and leaning in, but not before grabbing Jean-Luc by the front of his shirt and dragging him up so he can crush his mouth to the captain's.  
  
Oh, this is stupid. Picard knows it the instant their mouths make contact. But perhaps there is only so many times a man can fear he lost someone he cares for as deeply as he insists he does not care for Riker, before his resolve fails him.  
  
There's only a second of good sense he has, with which he could have used to push Will away and call this off before it becomes anything complicated, but he uses that good sense instead to arch up onto his toes to try and close some of the height difference between them as his arms snap around Will's neck so he can return the kiss with equal ferocity and desperation.  
  
Will bends down so he can reach him. He loops his arms around Picard's waist, his hands grazing over the small of the captain's back. He's all tight ropey muscles and strength, while Will is softer to the touch. He feels better than Will could have imagined, and that realization only makes him hungrier as he eats at Picard's mouth, driven by a need to be with him, as close as they can manage.  
  
Picard pulls him, one fist in his shirt and one in his hair, yanking him towards the desk. He pushes books off the surface with one hand, the other holding Will by the hair to keep his mouth exactly where he wants it, as he hikes up a leg to sit on the edge of the desk. Ankles pull Will in behind his knees, and their chests once again make contact as Picard claws at the back of Will's shirt like an animal, trying to pull it off of him.  
  
Will groans in his throat, his tongue searching for Picard's. He supports himself on the desk, which creaks under their combined weight, but doesn't give way, and with a bit of tugging, the silk shirt he's wearing comes off, over his head and lands on the floor somewhere, Will doesn't really care to look where.  
  
Picard's hands are on him in an instant, roaming over his chest, down his sides, his stomach, down to his ass. He grabs two handfuls of Will's ample backside and yanks their groins together, ushering a grunt out of his own throat as he feels his cock react to the pressure and heat and _size_ of Will's towering body leaning over him.  
  
"You are," Picard grunts between kisses, maintaining his firm hold on Will's ass and biting his lips between words, devouring his mouth in hasty kisses. "The most absurd man--" another grunt as he rocks his hips into Will's. "I have ever known--"  
  
"What makes you say that?" Will asks, his eyes twinkling when he looks down at Picard. His heart is racing, and his face is red.  
  
"Shut up and touch me," Picard grouses, and yanks him back in with one hand clamped over the back of his neck, the other still holding him by the ass.  
  
"Mph!" Will answers, and covers Picard's mouth with his own. A hand shakes down the svelte line of his body, he can tell Picard wants to take charge, but is perhaps too nervous, with good reason. It's not everyday, even on the Enterprise, that one is forced to divulge a deep, dark secret to an all-powerful entity, especially not when that secret is about a hidden attraction to your first officer-- _especially_ when you'd thought you were going to die, only to turn up unscathed.  
  
He kisses him, probing deep into his mouth with his tongue, he crushes him into the desk and feels his body. His taut sides, down the sharp line of his hip, he grinds his groin up against Picard's and feels him twitch, and they rut like teenagers against each other.  
  
Picard's cock tents the front of his slacks, and he feels all at once stifled by his own shirt. Breaking the kiss in order to yank his shirt off, he throws it aside and yanks Will's pants open as he rakes biting kisses up his shoulder and up the side of his neck, biting and tugging on his earlobe. Will is able to get a look at his captain shirtless for the first time, taking in the full scope of his form. His body is tight, silver hair carpeting his chest and stomach, with prominent vascularity up his arms and chest. He looks every bit like Will was expecting and even better than he was hoping.  
  
"Take me to the bed, Number One," Picard orders, scattering his thoughts and scraping his teeth behind Will's ear.  
  
"Yes _sir_," Will obeys, and he lifts Picard easily into his arms, and carries him to the bed. There, he lays his captain out, and pulls off first his pants, then his own and climbs in after him. Will sits on his haunches, between Picard's legs and looks him over before taking his cock in hand and jerking him off with slow, deliberate motions, then in short order, he lies flat on his stomach and tickles Picard's thigh with his beard a moment before covering his cock with his mouth and gulping it down to the root.  
  
The captain grunts with pleasure, arching his hips up into Will's mouth as he grips his hair by the root with one hand, and with the other he covers his own mouth. Pleasure surges up through his stomach, making his muscles go tight and hard as he rocks up across Will's tongue and down his throat. He's torn between watching Will with lustful eyes to commit every second of this to memory, and looking desperately away in order to pretend it isn't happening, that he isn't making the foolish mistake of sleeping with his first officer.  
  
His thoughts are scattered again when Will swallows, and he grunts into his own palm, arching up once more. God, if Will isn't heaven-sent with that mouth.  
  
"Mm-mmn." Will hums against his cock and pulls up until just the head is settled against his velvet tongue. His soft, blue eyes watch Picard, even if the captain would prefer to look away, he watches intently, memorizing how Jean-Luc looks in this moment. Even if they never do this again, he wants to remember it.  
  
Then, he plunges him back down into the heat of his mouth, until the glans of his cock is tickling the back of Will's throat, and he hollows his cheeks, then starts to bob his head, fucking Picard with his mouth, closing his eyes only once to savor the feeling of having a mouthful of him.  
  
He can hear Picard cursing under his breath, feel the muscles in his stomach and thighs ripple as he rocks up into the sensations. Will's mouth feels like fire around his cock, especially considering how hopelessly long it's been since he's had _anyone's_ face down between his legs, or really his own _hand_, if he's being honest with himself. He feels like a new man with Will's mouth surrounding him, like he could do no wrong and suffer no defeat.  
  
"_Will_\--" he hisses out, his head tipping back, mouth opening as his entire body rolls up into the feeling, every muscle in his body flexing and going taut. He can already tell this is one orgasm that's going to haunt him with its intensity, automatically downgrading all others in comparison.  
  
His first officer sucks up the length and over the head, coming up with a _Pop!_ that leaves him breathless. Licking the palm of his hand, he jerks Picard off in a quick motion, and holds his mouth close to lick and suck over the glans, his eyes slipping shut. This feels good. It feels _right_. He isn't sure they'll feel the same when it's over, but Will's going to savor this while they have it.  
  
Picard cums with a strained sound, striping over Will's tongue, his thighs flexing and spreading as his back arches and he feels his very soul filter out through his cock and into his first officer's mouth. He lets out a shuddering grunt, his muscles going taut in a straight line from his stomach up to his neck as he unloads his pleasure into Will's mouth.  
  
Finally he sags, spent and boneless and panting, and he looks down at will with cloudy grey eyes. "Get up here," he orders, tugging Will by the hair until he obeys, crawling up his body and then obediently falling over onto his back when Picard pushes him over to lean out on top of him. He buries his face into the side of Will's neck, bearing down on him with sucking kisses as he gathers up all the pre he can milk from the larger man's cockhead and uses it to jack his cock swiftly in return.  
  
Will wipes droplets of cum out of his beard, then wraps his arms around Picard. His hips hop up in motion with Picard's fist, this isn't how Will had considered their first time would be, but then again, he tried not to think about it most of the time. Hard not to, however, when the sexual tension wafts up from your commanding officer in waves on a day to day basis. All the longing stares, the way he'd catch Picard scoping him out from the big chair. It was all building to this, whatever _this_ is.  
  
Picard's fist twists over his cock roughly, very nearly _too_ roughly, but even that is perfectly Picard in its way. He leaves pink marks on Will's throat that will fade by morning as his hand flies over his prick, tugging him towards climax. Heat fills the captain's stomach as he bites Will's ear again, years worth of fantasies coming back to him.

"I have wanted to bend you over the arm of your chair since the first moment I saw your bare face at farpoint," he growls, his voice low and rough in Will's ear, his thumb grinding over Will's cockhead.  
  
"I was a fresh faced hot shot back then." Will grunts, his hands roaming over Picard's back, and down his muscled arm. He sighs under his breath. "I'm a different man, now."  
  
"Yes," Picard agrees with a measure of laughter in his voice. "Now you are a hot shot with a beard."  
  
Will's laugh is cut off by a groan. He bends his head down to nuzzle the top of Picard's bald dome, and moans into the open room, his leg coming over to drape across his captain's and his belly clenches up tight. Before long, he paints Picard's fingers and his own belly with cum, and he sags against his lover(?) the familiar sleepy buzz washing over him.  
  
Picard uses the tissues beside his bed to easily wipe Will up, and then there is a tense moment as he rolls over to take the other side of the bed, as Will anticipates being told to go. But instead Picard simply says, "Computer, reduce light to 14%, and lock the door," as he adjusts his pillow under his head.  
  
"Sir?" Will questions drunkenly, his voice is low, almost inaudible.  
  
"Do I need to _order_ you to put your arm over me?" Picard asks as the computer obeys, turning the lights low and locking his quarters.  
  
"No sir," Will laughs, and he settles in beside Picard, and as asked, tosses his arm over the captain's waist. It's heavy and warm, and when Will tugs him against his chest, that heat only intensifies.  
  
If while Will fell asleep, he was thinking that perhaps this might be the start of something real and permanent, his hopes are dashed when he wakes up the next morning to find Picard already out of bed and getting dressed. When he hears Will stirring, Picard turns to look at him with a neutral expression.  
  
"Number One," he says evenly, clasping his hands behind his back. "I assume we can continue to work together professionally from here on out, yes? I would like to regret this brief dalliance as little as possible."  
  
Will slips out of bed, and starts to put his pants on. Number One--usually those words make him feel like he's on top of the world, but now they feel cold and impersonal. "Captain?" he returns, hoping Picard will elaborate.  
  
Oh, the poor, stupid boy is going to make him say it outright. Picard's jaw flexes. "This was a lapse in judgement, nothing more," he says. "I would like for our professional relationship to carry on untarnished, if it can. If I have damaged it irreparably with my irresponsibility, I apologize sincerely."  
  
Will looks down at his hands, where he's holding his shirt, and he takes a deep breath. "Yes sir, it can. A lapse in judgement."  
  
"Glad to hear it," Picard says, turning away from the younger man to finish dressing, snapping his collar in place. "Please try to leave my quarters discreetly, Number One."  
  
With that, he walks away from the bed and out the front doors of his room, leaving Will, and whatever happened between them, behind him. 


End file.
